-- Value of a Life –

John Herlihy

How do we measure the true value of a life,

From towering heights to bottomless wells.

Happiness and sorrow measured with a knife,

In the tumultuous destiny that each life tells.

We read in scripture of balance of the scales,

The weight of deeds on the day of accounting.

What happens to each of us as gripping tales,

Following pathways with actions amounting.

Is the value estimated by the price of its cost?

How much suffering and grief had to be paid?

Lessons learned from the things that we lost,

The journey on a road with good deeds paved.

A life, not by outsiders, but by a judge blessed,

A judge that lives innerly, as a witness of mind.

We ourselves know, from the heart confessed,

We know what we did, the inner eye not blind.

In no way does popular opinion form the story,

No rewards or punishments have any true say.

The less that people strive to seek some glory,

The more an individual can rise above the fray.

Our values the brick and mortar our life built,

Not our money, our possessions, our power.

These are but fragile flowers that will soon wilt,

Sure as our lives disappear in the passing hour.

The values of this world do serve as naught,

In pursuit of higher values in knowledge born.

Values of a higher realm that cannot be bought,

From the sublime, the exalted, the eternal torn.

Our values lie not only in action and intention,

They nurture and grow in their bedrock beliefs.

Effort, steadfastness, and faith deserve mention,

The ability to discover and find what one seeks.

Break the table of our values, you break the soul,

Plunge into the depths of a darkness most deep.

Shattered pieces of a life never again made whole,

Cursed as a valueless individual left alone to weep.

In seeking power and fame under heaven’s dome,

We follow pathways from which we cannot escape.

Values of the mind and spirit lead to our true home,

Built on foundation bedrock we ourselves did make.

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Saturday 26 March 2022